While most of the disclosures of non-oxide metal ceramic catalysts, e.g., transition metal carbides or nitrides, as catalysts relate to the use of unsupported metal catalyst component, certain disclosures do exist which describe supported metal catalyst systems.
L. Leclercq et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,708 discusses several supported carbide systems including work by Mitchell and co-workers in supporting molybdenum on active carbon and other work relating to Group VI metals on alumina (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,325,843 and 4,326,992).
Lee et al., in Journal of Catalysis 128, 126-136 (1991) alludes to the "strong interaction" between molybdenum oxide and such support materials as silica or alumina in the manufacture of supported molybdenum catalysts.